A Boston attorney has been charged with conspiring to launder drug proceeds and failing to file mandatory reports of large cash transactions, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz.

Lawrence M. Perlmutter, a sole practitioner with an office at 15 Court Square, and Secundino Cespedes were accused on Feb. 3 of conspiring to conceal over $1.7 million in drug proceeds.

After allegedly accepting the money, Ortiz said Perlmutter, 50, then deposited the cash into his interest on lawyer’s trust account (IOLTA). At that point, Ortiz said he would immediately obtain cashier’s checks drawn on his IOLTA account.

The money, Ortiz alleged, would then be used to bail out defendants who had pending drug cases in various Massachusetts state courts. An affidivat filed in the case by an Internal Revenue Service agent listed several drug prosecutions in which prosecutors said the scheme was carried out. Perlmutter, Ortiz said, did not actually represent the defendants in any of those cases.

“By converting the cash into cashier’s checks, Perlmutter and Cespedes enabled the associates of those drug defendants to avoid bringing cash directly to bail commissioners, which triggers mandatory federal reporting requirements and can subject the money to immediate seizure by law enforcement,” Ortiz said in her statement.

The U.S. attorney added that Perlmutter and Cespedes helped conceal the fact that the cash being used to post the bail was from illegal drug trafficking proceeds.

In return for their alleged services, Ortiz said Perlmutter and his co-defendant charged a “substantial” fee.

“Allegations of an attorney, or any other officer of the court, hiding or laundering illegal drug money undermines the criminal justice system, shakes the public’s confidence and is an affront to all of the ethical and law abiding members of the system,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz spokeswoman Christina Sterling told Lawyers Weekly that Perlmutter was held without bail pending a detention hearing on Feb. 4 in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler. He is represented by Ian Gold of the Federal Defender’s Office.